Sydney Sibilia’s Sky Original series is finally available from 11 October exclusively on Sky and streaming only on NOW. It tells a story of music, growth, the province but above all of a friendship that changes your life: the plot , the cast and everything you need to know.
“Our superpower is our dreams and we will never give them up,” says Max Pezzali (played by Elia Nuzzolo) in They Killed Spider-Man – The Legendary Story of the 883the Sky Original series available fromOctober 11th exclusively on Sky and streaming only on NOW. And dreams are the underlying theme of a story that has already become legendary, that of an overwhelming success that arrives suddenly and transforms two provincial boys into real stars. The dramedy, long 8 episodes and a Sky Studios and Greenland production (a Banijay Group company) produced by Matteo Rovere e Sydney Sibiliatakes us back to the 90s by telling us the origins of a band that has become the symbol of a generation. It is the story of Max Pezzali and Mauro Repetto and their captivating friendship, but it is also our story; that of those who sang 883’s songs at the top of their lungs in the car or of those who, at least once in their life, thought they couldn’t make it and found in a friend that jolt they needed to not give up. Here’s everything you need to know about plot and south castthe words of the director, creator and producer Sydney Sibilia and the protagonists Elia Nuzzolo and Matteo Oscar Giuggioli.
The plot of They Killed Spider-Man: From Failure to Success
Like all the most compelling coming-of-age novels, the one about Max Pezzali’s life also begins with a failure. We are in Pavia, at the end of the 80s. Max is still just Massimo, inevitably failing after neglecting his studies in pursuit of punk music. In the summer, the florist’s son is forced to make deliveries to funerals in a town where “rather than stay there in the summer people die”. But what seems like his condemnation turns into an opportunity: not only does he meet Silvia (Ludovica Barbarito), the most beautiful and sought-after girl of all, but in the new high school he meets a new classmate who will change his life, Mauro (Matteo Oscar Giuggioli). The two soon discover that they have something in common, a passion for music, and they become inseparable. Thanks to his friend’s enthusiasm, the shy Max begins to believe it and together with him he composes the first songs that will be produced by Claudio Cecchetto. Success arrives like a train: the debut album, the 1992 Festivalbar, the covers. Yet Max and Mauro are so different: will their friendship manage not to succumb under the weight of celebrity?
Watch “They Killed Spider-Man,” streaming only on NOW
The genesis of the series told by Sydney Sibilia
The story of the 883 is that of all of us because in the lyrics of their songs there are the emotions that we have all felt at least once in our lives: the anxiety of the first date that makes us arrive half an hour early, the desire for redemption and to escape from a province that is restrictive, the frustration in understanding that “maybe what I’m looking for isn’t even there”. “Listening to them as I grew up, I understood why I liked them. Their success came from the fact that the public realized that what they sang was true for them too and rewarded simplicity”, observed Sydney Sibilia at the press conference. The director, who shares a sincere friendship with Matteo Rovere as well as an artistic partnership, decided to bring this “legendary story of the 883” to the screen after reading Pezzali’s autobiography, Cowboys never give up. “At that point I understood its potential and during lunch I talked about it non-stop with Nils Hartmann [Executive Vice President Sky Studios per l’Italia ndr.]”, he explained. The rest came by itself: over 3 years of work, 9 months of filming, 174 locations, 3 directors (Sibilia alternated directing with Alice Filippi and Francesco Ebbasta) and dozens of inspections to reconstruct iconic places such as the Festivalbar stage, Aquafan, Radio Deejay or Jolly Blue itself.
Not just Max and Mauro: The characters who contributed to the dream of 883
They killed Spider-Man does an excellent job in reconstructing the characters who were fundamental in 883’s rise to success, when they were still called I Pop and were considered too unphotogenic to appear in public. There’s Cisco (Davide Calgaro), Max’s childhood friend and sarcastic voice of his conscience, Pierpaolo (Edoardo Ferrario), the man to whom Cecchetto entrusts the newborns 883 to guide them along the difficult path that will lead to fame; and then there is Silvia, the only character who does not have a counterpart in reality but who mixes various feminine suggestions found in Max’s book. It’s her the spark that ignites Max’s passions and gives birth to the first songs. They complete the cast Alberto Astori (Sergio Pezzali, Max’s father), Roberta Rovelli (Alba Pezzali, Max’s mother), Roberto Zibetti (Claudio Cecchetto) e Angelo Spagnoletti (Lello).
But Elia Nuzzolo and Matteo Oscar Giuggioli, two boys born in 2000, are the beating heart of the series. The two young actors immersed themselves perfectly in the shoes of the two protagonists and were able to experience that decade indirectly so far away from them by using a pay phone or rewinding the tape of an audio cassette with a ballpoint pen. The former said he learned a lesson from the series: it’s always worth chasing your dreams. The second stated that he was not immediately able to detach himself from his character, “someone who never feels enough, who always has something missing. It’s something that sticks to you”. And we are sure that They killed Spider-Man it will be a series destined to “stick to us” and overwhelm us with its coming-of-age story, nostalgia and simplicity. Just like an 883 song.
Watch “They Killed Spider-Man,” streaming only on NOW
